There shall appear and shine the sign of the Son of Man in the Heaven. . . . – Matthew 24:30

Only an initiate may understand. . . . – Edgar Cayce on the Great Pyramid of Giza, Reading 5748-5

Gizah Pyramids. Photo: Ricardo Liberato (CC)

The hope of finding a secret chamber in the Giza Plateau, the home of the Great Pyramid and the Great Sphinx, has never been so high. As I write these words (late February 2014), Egyptians have gone to the ballot boxes and voted in favor of a new constitution. Soon presidential elections will take place, to be followed immediately by the formation of a parliament. A new Egypt is in the making, and hopefully along with it a new and more open-minded Ministry of Antiquities.… Read the rest

Six Egyptians (two inspectors of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and four others from the security personnel and a travel agent) have been jailed since February because they allegedly assisted German tourists in April 2013 to take a small sample of red paint from the Cartouche of King Khufu in the Great Pyramid. But now new official evidence has been found that the sample of red paint from the Cartouche was taken in 2006 during the time of Zahi Hawass, which proves the innocence of the six Egyptians.

On April 17, 2013 three German tourists obtained a permit from the Supreme Council of the Antiquities to have a private visit in the Great Pyramid from 6 to 8 p.m. They were accompanied by their travel agent, two inspectors from antiquities, and three security guards. While inside the pyramid the Germans were allowed to enter the so-called Relief Chambers above the King’s Chamber.… Read the rest

The mystery of how the pyramids were built at Giza, Egypt, has fascinated generation after generation of visitors. A new study purports to reveal the simple truth of it, reports the Washington Post:

Few have traveled to the pyramids of Egypt and not wondered how an ancient civilization without modern technology could have constructed structures so large they can be viewed from space. Some have theorized they were built inside out.

Perhaps the most confounding mystery of all involves how incredibly large stones made their way to the middle of the desert without massive mechanical assistance. No camel, even the Egyptian kind, is that strong.

The truth, researchers at the University of Amsterdam announced this week in a study published in the journal Physical Review Letters, may actually be quite simple. It has long been believed that Egyptians used wooden sleds to haul the stone, but until now it hasn’t been entirely understood how they had overcome the problem of friction.

Weird. Has anyone been digging into this story? Reports the AP via MSNBC:

Egypt’s antiquities authority closed the largest of the Giza pyramids Friday following rumors that groups would try to hold spiritual ceremonies on the site at 11:11 on Nov. 11, 2011.

The authority’s head Mustafa Amin said in a statement Friday that the pyramid of Khufu, also known as Cheops or the Great Pyramid, would be closed to visitors until Saturday morning for “necessary maintenance.”

The closure follows a string of unconfirmed reports in local media that unidentified groups would try to hold “Jewish” or “Masonic” rites on the site to take advantage of mysterious powers coming from the pyramid on the rare date.

Amin called all reports of planned ceremonies at the site “completely lacking in truth.”

The director of the complex, Ali al-Asfar, said Friday that an Egyptian company requested permission last month to hold an event called “hug the pyramid,” in which 120 people would join hands around the ancient burial structure.

Egypt’s irrepressible and media-hungry chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass has taken the rare step of changing the official version of who built the pyramids. The establishment Egyptologists may take years to recover … what’s next, Zahi endorsing Robert Bauval’s Star Correlation Theory?!? From ABC News/Reuters:

New tombs found in Giza support the view that the Great Pyramids were built by free workers and not slaves, as widely believed, Egypt’s chief archaeologist said on Sunday.

Films and media have long depicted slaves toiling away in the desert to build the mammoth pyramids only to meet a miserable death at the end of their efforts.

“These tombs were built beside the king’s pyramid, which indicates that these people were not by any means slaves,” Zahi Hawass, the chief archaeologist heading the Egyptian excavation team, said in a statement.

“If they were slaves, they would not have been able to build their tombs beside their king’s.”

He said the collection of workers’ tombs, some of which were found in the 1990s, were among the most significant finds in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Bikya Masr reports on the rude behavior of Zahi Hawass, a man who has often tangled with anyone daring to challenge his “official” opinions on the Giza Pyramids or any other aspect of ancient Egypt:

CAIRO: In a shocking display of poor diplomacy, Egypt’s chief Egyptologist Zahi Hawass allegedly called American pop-star Beyonce a “stupid person” during her brief tour of the Giza pyramids earlier this week. Writing in al-Shorouk newspaper, Summer al-Gamal said that Hawass became fed up with the pop star’s attitude after she did not show the interest Hawass felt was deserved of the pyramids.

According to Gamal, during Hawass’ self-guided tour, he said “I showed her the Sphinx and I gave her a book on King Tutankhamen,” but then his anger and frustration made its way to the forefront.

“Then he stopped being diplomatic and said in anger, ’she’s a stupid person and she doesn’t understand a thing and she doesn’t want to understand’,” wrote Gamal.